The Brains Memory Capacity

The brain and its memory are topics that I have always been interested in. Now that I have recently entered middle age I have found my memory is not as good as it used to be. This class has opened my eyes to some information and techniques that will be useful in the future, both at work and in my personal life. The brains capacity is phenomenal. 100 billion working parts combine together to obtain information and produce a memory(Chapman,2012). The synapsis taking place between nerve cells can be improved with practice. How strong a memory is, depends on the strength of the synapses and how many times the information is reviewed (Sherwood, 2012). Memory functions can be improved no matter how old you are. Just like physical muscles get stronger with exercise, the brain capacity to remember also improves with exercise and practice (Burley-Allen, 3).There is 11 principles to remember when trying to improve memory. The techniques associated with these principles are helpful when studying for school, remembering important facts at work, or recalling a list when shopping. Memory is a three step process which can be divided up into sensory registration, short term memory and long term memory (Burley-Allen, 3). The whole process of obtaining information into the long term memory consists of a short period of time. Without conscious effort the information can be lost at any one of the stages. Sensory registration is the act of accepting information through the five senses. This process only lasts for three seconds. The more senses that are used the better change the information will be put into the short term memory. The short term memory only has the information stored for 15 seconds. After receiving the information the short term memory decides if it is important or not. Information can be forgotten or transferred to long term memory depending on interest or distractibility. They short term memory stage is the most important part of this process. There are many...